BOOK GIVEAWAY: AFTER DARK: Poems about Nocturnal Animals by David L Harrison

David Harrison has written a new picture book titled, AFTER DARK: Poems about Nocturnal Animals, Illustrated by Stephanie Laberis and published by WordSong. David has agreed to share a copy with one lucky winner. All you have to do to get in the running is to leave a comment. Reblog, tweet, or talk about it on Facebook with a link and you will get additional chances to win. Just let me know the other things you do to share the good news, so I can put in the right amount of tickets in my basket for you.

Sharing on Facebook, Twitter, reblogging really helps spread the word for a new book. Thanks for helping David & Stephanie!

If you have signed up to follow my blog and it is delivered to you everyday, please let me know when you leave a comment and I will give you an extra ticket. Thanks!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

This collection of twenty-two poems explores the fascinating lives of North American nocturnal animals.

When the sun goes down, many animals come out. Crickets chirp their crickety song hoping to attract a mate. Cougars bury their leftovers for later, leaving few clues for others to follow. Armadillos emerge from their dens to dig for worms, leaving holes in the lawns they disturb. This collection of poetry from acclaimed children’s author and poet David L. Harrison explores the lives of animals who are awake after dark. Stephanie Laberis’s beautifully atmospheric illustrations will draw in readers, and extensive back matter offers more information about each animal.

BOOK JOURNEY:

Shedding Light on After Dark

After Dark is a collection of poems, with accompanying back notes, featuring creatures that stir about their business after the sun goes down. It’s my 97^th book and set for publication on February 25. It is beautifully illustrated by Stephanie (Steph) Laberis.

I formally presented the proposal to Mary Colgan, who was at that time my editor at Boyds Mills Press, on May 9, 2015. She chose it as her favorite from among half a dozen ideas we’d recently discussed in a phone call.

But After Dark started long before 2015. After Dark has always been with me. It was with me when I was six years old, camping in a tent with my parents beside White Horse Lake in Arizona, listening to bears not so far away banging on metal trash cans in futile efforts to get a free meal. With me in third grade, camping in the back yard beside a sheet draped over the clothesline and illuminated from within so I could capture night moths that came to the light. With me as I walked in the dark up a streambed looking for frogs but catching a water moccasin instead. Later, much later, I wrote Goose Lake, a book about the lake behind the house where we’ve lived for thirty years. It included this passage.

Morning News

Dusk has just enough time to pull a blanket over the day crew before full dark summons the night shift. Toothy yawns and yearning bellies greet another evening of chance. At one time or another I’ve met all the players: foxes sniffing for hidden ducklings; skunk families strolling my yard, raccoons that should be arrested for repeatedly breaking into my attic; light-blinded opossums who lose lopsided duels with cars. Deer . . . coyotes . . . stray cats . . .  they’ve all appeared on the hooded stage between my back door and the lake. Their visits are rarely marked. Only snow gives them a slate on which to write their dramas. Even then they tell you no more than they must.

So in some ways After Dark is the book I was supposed to write all along. Maybe the first 96 books were warm-ups for this one. When Mary Colgan left Boyds Mills Press, Brittany Ryan took over. When Kane bought Boyds Mills Press, Rebecca Davis became my editor. And now, dear readers, it’s in your hands. I hope you like my cast of moonlight characters.

DAVID’S BIO:

David L. Harrison’s 95 books for children and teachers have received dozens of honors, including Society of Midland Authors award for best children’s nonfiction book, 2016; Missouri Pioneer in Education Award; and Missouri Library Association’s Literacy Award. His work has been widely translated and anthologized more than 185 times.

His poems have been set to music and sandblasted into a library sidewalk. He has been featured at hundreds of conferences, workshops, literature festivals, schools, and colleges. David holds two science degrees and two honorary doctorates of letters. He’s Drury University’s poet laureate. David Harrison Elementary School is named for him.

STEPHANIE LABERIS BIO:

Steph has loved drawing for as long as she can remember, and was raised on a healthy diet of cartoons, video games and getting muddy in the New England woods. She also loves crafting, particularly needle felting, and loves to bring her drawn characters to life with real, tangible materials. She attended RISD and has a BFA in Illustration, and currently enjoys working in many artistic fields; illustration, character design for animation and toy design.

She works out of her home studio in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also enjoys tending to her small army of pet rats (who are also her official muses), sampling the best coffees and chocolates of the Bay Area and obsessing over what her next side project will be. When she grows up, she wants to be a real artist. Or be a unicorn! Current clients include Random House Golden Books, Henry Holt/Macmillan, Holiday House and Simon & Schuster. Website: https://stephlaberis.carbonmade.com

Thank you David for sharing your book and journey with us. The text and the illustrations make every page sing. What a great way to teach children about nocturnal animals. Good luck!

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy